Listening to Fragile

chopper wrote: I'd probably rate Fragile third out of those 3, and I prefer GRTO, TFTO and Relayer. It does have Heart of the Sunrise which is one of my top 5 Yes songs but I've heard Roundabout too much and the solo tracks don't really help the continuity of it all as an album.

This sums up my opinion as well.

That said, I still would never call Fragile underwhelming (per the OP). Most Yes albums are quite brilliant in the grand scheme of things.

Edited by HolyMoly - June 17 2021 at 08:48

I like the first and last tracks on Fragile. The ones in between do nothing for me.

The Yes Album is the most underwhelming popular entry for me. Fragile through Relayer are 10/10 records for me.

I'd probably rate Fragile third out of those 3, and I prefer GRTO, TFTO and Relayer. It does have Heart of the Sunrise which is one of my top 5 Yes songs but I've heard Roundabout too much and the solo tracks don't really help the continuity of it all as an album.

And with me I have loved Fragile (four star album for me, probably three these days, but I once adored it) and really liked The Yes Album (three star), but Close to the Edge never grabbed me. Close to the Edge is a two star album for me (although I'd give it a three if I reviewed it at PA). I like the title track, but not the rest. It really does take all kinds.

Every ten years or so I try to play Close to the Edge once, and every time it is really hard to get to the end. Maybe one decade I'll "get" it. I won't say it's strange that it's so high rated, I just don't feel the love. Close to the edge may well be superior, but I just don't like it much.   But hey, most of the people wouldn't like a lot of the music I like, and the Symphonic Prog category is not one of my favourites.

Different strokes for different folks.